Pivot bolt door latch



June 1964 J. H. WERNIG PIVOT BOLT DOOR LATCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 8, 1961 INVENTOR. fa/mar & Wff/f? zz/fl ATTORNEY J1me 1964 J. H. WERNIG PIVOT BOLT DOOR LATCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JZxzw A, Zia/x25; BY 7 2% ATTO EY Filed Aug. 8, 1961 PIVOT BOLT DOOR LATCH Filed Aug. 8, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

dZ/WJ Warm? United States Patent 3,137,519 PIVOT BOLT DOOR LATCH James H. Wernig, Birmingham, Mich, assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Delaware Filed Aug. 8, 1961, Ser. No. 136,156 9 Claims. (Cl. 292-221) This invention relates to a vehicle door latch and more particularly to a vehicle door latch having a pivoted spring biased bolt.

One feature of the invent on is that it provides an improved door latch. Another feature of the invention is that it provides a vehicle door latch comprising a latch operating subassembly with a frame having latch operating elements mounted thereon and a latching subassembly including a housing having latching elements mounted therein, the frame being mounted on the inner surface of a wall of the vehicle door and the housing being mounted on said frame and projecting through said wall of the door. Still another feature of the invention is that the latch includes a movably mounted timer member having a portion so located that it engages the striker prior to engagement of the striker by the bolt as the door moves to closed position whereby the timer member moves the latch holding detent out of engagement with the bolt before the bolt engages the striker. Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, having reference to the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of an automobile having the improved latch mounted in a front door thereof.

FIGURE 2 is an exploded view of the latch and striker, vehicle door and body parts being shown in phantom lines.

FIGURE 3 is a vertical transverse section taken through the door along the line 33 of FIGURE 1 and showing the latch operating subassembly.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but showing the parts in another position.

FIGURE 5 is a vertical section through the vehicle taken along the line 55 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is a section taken along the line 66 of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 7 is a section taken along the line 77 of FIGURE 5 FIGURE 8 is a view similar to FIGURE 7 but showing the parts in a ditferent position, and

FIGURE 9 is a horizontal section through the latch.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, an automobile body 26 swingably mounts a door designated generally as 22, the door being hingedly mounted at its fiont edge on the body in conventional manner and having an :outer panel 24, an inner panel 26 and a jamb wall 28 connecting the inner and outer panels at the rear free swinging edge of the door. The door has a stationary gripping handle 30 which is fixedly mounted on its outer panel 24 and which is provided with a conventional push button unlatching assembly including a push button 34 and a push rod 36 which is axially movable upon depression of the push button 34. A conventional key cylinder 38 is mounted in the door outer panel 24 below the location of the push button 34 and a conventional type of key operated tumbler locking mechanism (not shown) is contained inside the key cylinder. A key operator rod 46 extends from the key operated mechanism and is connected to a flange projecting from the locking trip lever of the door latch, later to be .described.

The door inner panel 26 mounts a conventional type of remote turn handle 44 which is connected through a 3,137,519 Patented June 16, 1964 ICC lever arm 46 and a connecting rod 48 to the remote lever of the door latch. At the belt line of the door there is a conventional garnish molding 59 having an opening therein through which projects a conventional garnish molding locking button 52 which is connected by a locking rod 54 to the locking lever of the door latch.

As shown best in FIGURE 2, the door latch comprises two separate subassemblies, one of which is identified herein as the latch operating subassembly 56, and is secured to the inside surface of the jamb wall of the door. The latching subassembly, which is identified by the reference character 58, is mounted on the latch operating subassembly and projects out of the door beyond the outer surface of the jamb wall 28 of the door.

The latch operating subassembly 56 includes a frame 60 which mounts the unlatching and locking operators for the door latch. This frame is bolted on the inside surface of the jamb wall 28 of the door by bolts 59 which are received in threaded openings 61 in the frame 60. A push button lever 62 is pivotally mounted at one end at the upper portion of the frame 66 on a rivet 64 and the lower end of the lever 62 is formed with a right angular flange 66 adapted to be engaged by the outside unlatching means above described so that upon depression of the push button 34 the push button lever 62 will be swung in a clockwise direction as the parts appear in FIGURES 3 and 4. The frame 60 is formed with an opening 60a and an arm 68 is bent at right angles from one edge of the push button lever 62 and projects through this opening, being bent back parallel to the outer surface of the frame 66 so that it overlies the body of the push button lever 62. At its free end the arm 68 mounts a swingable intermittent link 7 0 which pivots on a stud 72. At its free end the intermittent link is formed with a downwardly depending nose 74, and above this nose there is a transversely extending pin 76 which extends back through the frame opening 6001. A spring 78 is connected between the frame 66 and the push button lever so that it yieldably urges the push button lever in a counterclockwise direction to the operative position shown in FIGURES 3 and 4.

Mounted on the push button lever 62 adjacent the lower end thereof is a headed stud 80 which projects through an elongated slot 82 in a remote connecting link 84 which extends between the push button lever 62 and a remote bellcrank lever 66 which is pivotally mounted on a stud 88 carried by a right angularly projecting arm of the frame 60. One arm of the bellcrank lever 86 is connected to the remote connecting link 84 and the other arm is connected to the remote connecting rod 48. A locking lever 90 is pivotally mounted on the frame 60 on a stud 92 and has an outwardly extending arm 94 which terminates in an angular flange 96 which is con nected to the key operator 46. An inwardly extending arm 93 of the locking lever is connected to the garnish molding connecting rod 54. The pin 76 on the intermittent link 70 projects into a slot 160 in the outwardly extending arm 94 of the locking lever, and an over center spring 102 is connected between the frame 60 and the locking lever 90 and is arranged to yieldably hold the locking lever in locked position (FIGURE 4) or unlocked position (FIGURE 3) as selected.

The latching subassembly 58 comprises a housing 104 in which a bolt designated generally as 106 is pivoted by means of an elongated rivet stud 108. The latch housing has an opening 104a in its lower wall into which projects the latching nose 110 of the bolt 106, and the bolt is formed with a slot 112 for a purpose later to be described. A detent designated generally as 114 is pivoted in the housing 104 on an elongated rivet stud 116. The detent is formed with a blocking arm 118 which extends generally downwardly and terminates in a shoulder 124) which normally abuts the upper surface of the latching nose 110, and holds the bolt against pivotal movement. A pin 122 projects from the blocking arm 118 of the detent through the slot 112 in the bolt. An undogging arm 124 on the detent 114 extends generally outwardly from the pivot stud 116 and below the undogging arm the detent is formed with an actuating arm 126 from which an actuating pin 128 projects.

A timer lever designated generally as 139 is pivotally mounted on the stud 1&8 coaxially with the bolt 1%, and is formed with a timer foot 132 which projects downwardly through the opening 104a in the latch housing at a location inwardly of the latching nose 110 of the bolt. A portion of the timer lever overlies the slot 112 in the bolt and is formed with bifurcated arms 134 and 136 which straddle the pin 122 which projects from the detent. A spring 138 is coiled about the bolt stud 108 and has one arm abutting a wall of the latch housing 104, and another arm hooked into a tab 140 bent from the timer lever so that the spring biases the timer lever in a clockwise direction as the parts appear in FIGURES 7 and 8. As later will appear, the spring 138 also biases the detent 114 into engagement with the latching nose 110 of the bolt, and also acts to urge the bolt toward its latched position.

The provision of a latch operating subassembly and a latching subassembly as described above greatly facilitates assembly and mounting of the door latch and particularly adapts the structure for mass production manufacture. During manufacture, the latch operating parts may be mounted on the frame 60 on one assembly line and the latching parts may be mounted in the housing 104 on another assembly line. The housing 104 is then secured to the frame 60 by means of tabs 150 which are inserted in slots 152 in the frame 60 and then are staked over. Also, studs 108 and 116 may be staked over after passing through respective openings 154 and 156 in the frame 60. Then the entire assembly is mounted on the jamb face of the door by bolts 59.

A striker designated generally as 142 is fixedly mounted on the vehicle body and is formed with teeth 144 and 146 so located that they are engaged by the timer foot 132 and by the latching nose 110 of the bolt when the door is slammed shut, and the tooth 146 remains in engagement with the latching nose 110 of the bolt while the door is shut and while the bolt is held by the detent against movement in an unlatching direction as shown in FIGURE 7. A conventional spring pressed shoe 148 on the striker abuts the top surface of the housing 104 toprovide a dovetail wedging action.

In order to open the door from the outside, the push button 34 is depressed, causing clockwise movement (as the parts appear in FIGURES 3 and 4) of the push button lever 62 and moving the intermittent link 70 bodily to the left in FIGURE 3. During this movement the nose 74 of the intermittent link picks up the actuating pin 128 on the detent 114, swinging the detent from the position of FIGURE 7 to the position of FIGURE 8. As the detent swings about its pivot stud 116, the bolt operating pin 122 of the detent is raised to the position of FIGURE 8. The first movement of this pin along the length of the slot 112 in the bolt does not cause movement of the bolt. However, engagement of the pin with the upper one, 134, of the timer lever arms 134 and 136 which straddle the pin 122 causes counterclockwise movement of the timer lever, lifting its foot 132 out of the way of the striker teeth. Upward movement of the pin 122 continues and when the pit-r128 engages the upper end of the slot 112, the pin picks up the bolt and swings it counterclockwise about the bolt stud 108 so that the latching nose 110 of the bolt swings out of engagement with the striker teeth as appears in FIGURE 8. This movement of the bolt is permitted because the initial movement of the detent moves the blocking shoulder 120 of the detent out of en- 4 gagement with the nose 11d of the bolt. With the parts in the position of FIGURE 8 the door may be swung open, this movement being assisted by the usual weatherstrip which surrounds the door opening in the vehicle body.

When the push button 34 is released, the push button return spring 78 will return the push button lever 62 and the intermittent link 70 to their operative positions and the bolt spring 138 will return the timer lever, detent and bolt to their operative positions. The spring 138 acts directly on the timer lever and this force is conveyed to the detent through the arm 134 which overlies the pin 122. The spring force in turn is conveyed to the bolt as the pin 122 bears against the bottom of the slot 112. It should be noted that operation from the outside of the vehicle body does not disturb the inside operating means since the stud 8t merely moves in the slot 82 of the remote connecting link 84.

Unlatching from the inside of the vehicle is achieved by turning the remote handle 44 which swings the remote bellcrank lever 86 and pulls on the remote connecting link 84 so that the push button lever 62 is swung in the same manner as upon depression of the outside push button 34.

When the door is slammed shut, it is necessary that the latching nose 110 of the bolt 106 cam over the striker teeth. Since the bolt normally is positively held against unlatching movement by the shoulder 120 of the detent, it is essential that the detent be swung to its out-of-theway position before the latching nose 110 of the bolt engages the striker teeth. This operation is achieved through the timer lever 130, the timer foot of which engages the striker teeth ahead of the bolt and, through the timer arm 136, swings the detent to move its blocking shoulder 120 out of holding engagement with the bolt. As the door approaches its fully closed position the timer foot 132 moves inwardly beyond the striker tooth 146 as shown in FIGURE 7, and the spring 138 swings the. de tent back toward holding engagement with the bolt. In order to insure. that the bolt moves to its latching position the lower surface 149 of the blocking arm 118 of the de tent acts as a cam on the top surface of the latching nose of the bolt under the force of the bolt spring 138 to move the bolt toward its latched position.

Locking from outside the car is achieved through turn ing a proper key in the key cylinder 38 so that the key operator 4% which is connected to the flange 96 of the locking lever is turned, flipping the locking lever about the stud 92 from the unlocked position of FIGURE 3 to the locked position of FIGURE 4. During the locking operation the pin 76 which projectsfrom the intermittent link 79 is picked up by the bottom surface of the slot in the locking lever, swinging the intermittent link 70 in a counterclockwise direction about its pivot stud 72. Now movement of the push button lever 62 upon oper'- ation either of the outside push button 34 or'the inside remote handle 44 merely causes the intermittent link 7 0 to free wheel, since the actuating pin 128 is out of the path of movement of the nose 74 of the intermittent link. If the latch parts are placed in locked position when the door is open and the door is slammed shut, means are provided for automatically undogging the latch, i.e moving the locking parts back to unlocked position so that the operator will notbe locked out of the car. If the operator so desires he may lock the door without using his key by the performance of a conscious act during'the time the door is being slammed shut.

The first of these features, automatic undogging, is described below. When the door is slammed shut engagement of the timer foot 132 of the timer lever with the striker teeth will swing the detent in a clockwise directionfrom the position of FIGURE 7 to the position-of FIG- URE 8 in the manner earlier described. During this movement of the detent its undogging arm 124 will swing down, picking up the pin 76 and swinging the intermit tent link and the locking lever back to unlocked position.

Keyless locking may be achieved by holding the outside push button depressed while the door is being slammed shut. This will swing the push button lever 62 to its operated position, carrying in the intermittent link to a position where the pin 76 is out of the path of movement of the undogging arm 124 of the detent.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Latch apparatus for an automobile door having a jamb wall with an opening therein, comprising in combination, a housing having an open face; latching means, detent means and timer control means; a first stud mounting said latching means and timer control means in said housing for movement between latched and released positions; a second stud mounting said detent means in said housing for movement between latched and released positions; a cover for the open face of said housing; latch operating means movably mounted on said cover, including inside and outside latch release means and door locking means; means including said first and second studs for attaching said housing to said cover, whereby said detent means is controlled by said latch operating means; and means for mounting said cover on the inner surface of said jamb wall, said housing projecting through said opening.

2. Latch apparatus for a vehicle door, comprising in combination, a movably mounted bolt having a latching portion for successive engagement with spaced holding portions of a striker; movably mounted detent means having a portion normally engaging said bolt to hold the bolt in latching position; means for moving said detent out of holding engagement with the bolt; a movably mounted timer member having a portion so located that that it successively engages said striker portions prior to successive engagement of the striker portions by the latching portion of the bolt as the door moves to closed position; and means interconnecting said timer member and detent means whereby said dedent means is successively moved by said timer member out of engagement with said bolt before the bolt successively engages the striker portions.

3. Latch apparatus for a vehicle door, comprising in combination, a movably mounted bolt having a latching portion for engagement with a striker; movably mounted detent means having a portion normally engaging said bolt to hold the bolt in latching position; means for mov ing said detent out of holding engagement with the bolt; a movably mounted timer member having a portion so located that it engages said striker prior to engagement of the striker by the latching portion of the bolt as the door moves to closed position; means interconnecting said timer member and detent means whereby said detent means is moved by said timer member out of engagement with said bolt before the bolt engages the striker; and a single spring urging the timer member to striker engaging position, the detent means to bolt holding position and bolt toward latched position, said spring being operative directly upon said timer member, operative upon the detent through the means interconnecting said timer member and detent means, and operative upon the bolt through the detent means, said detent means having a cam surface engaging the bolt and urging it toward latching position when the detent means is out of holding engagement with the bolt.

4. Latch apparatus for a vehicle door, comprising in combination, a housing; a bolt pivotally mounted in said housing and having a latching portion projecting out of said housing for engagement with a striker; a detent pivotally mounted in said housing and having a portion normally engaging said bolt to hold the bolt in latching position; means for moving said detent out of holding engage ment with the bolt; means on said detent making a'lost motion connection with said bolt for moving the bolt to unlatched position after the detent is moved out of holding engagement with the bolt; a timer member pivotally mounted in said housing and having a portion so located that it engages said striker prior to engagement of the striker by the latching portion of the bolt as the door moves to closed position; means interconnecting said timer member and detent means whereby said detent is moved by said timer member out of engagement with said bolt before the bolt engages the striker; and spring means urging the timer member, detent and bolt toward latched position.

5. Latch apparatus for a vehicle door, comprising in combination, a housing having an open face, latching means mounted in said housing for generally planar movement between latched and unlatched positions, detent means mounted in said housing for movement between latch holding and latch released positions in a plane generally parallel to the plane of movement of said latching means, a cover for the open face of said housing, latch operating means mounted on said cover for movement in a plane generally parallel to the plane of movement of said latching means, and means for attaching said cover and said housing, whereby said latch operating means is controllably associated with said latching means.

6. Latch apparatus for a vehicle door comprising, in combination, a housing having an open face, latching means mounted in said housing for movement between latched and unlatched positions, detent means mounted in said housing for movement between latch holding and latch released positions, stud means mounting said latching means and said detent means on said housing, a cover for the open face of said housing, latch operating means movably mounted on said cover, and means, including said stud means, for attaching said cover and said housing, whereby said detent means is controlled by said latch operating means.

7. Latch apparatus for a vehicle door comprising, in combination, a movably mounted bolt having a latching portion for successive engagement with spaced latching portions of a striker, movably mounted detent means having a portion normally engaging said bolt to hold the bolt in latching position, a movably mounted timer member having a portion engageable with said striker portions prior to the successive engagement of the latching portion of this bolt with said striker portions as the door moves to closed position, means interconnecting said timer member and said detent means whereby said detent means is successively moved out of engagement with said bolt before the bolt successively engages said striker portions, and resilient means returning said detent means into holding engagement with said bolt after the bolt successively engages said striker portions.

8. Latch apparatus for a vehicle door, comprising, in combination, a housing; a bolt pivotally mounted in said housing and having a latching portion projecting out of said housing for engagement with a striker; a detent pivotally mounted in said housing and having a portion normally engaging said bolt to hold the bolt in latching position; means for moving said detent our of holding engagement with the bolt; a timer member pivotally mounted in said housing coaxially with said detent and having a portion so located that it engages said striker prior to engagement of the striker by the latching portion of the bolt as the door moves to closed position; means interconnecting said timer member and detent whereby said detent is swung by said timer member out of engagement with said bolt before the bolt engages the striker; and spring means urging the timer member to striker engaging position, the detent to bolt holding position, and the bolt toward latched position.

9. Latch apparatus for a vehicle door, comprising in combination, a housing; a bolt pivotally mounted in said housing and having a latching portion projecting out of 7 1 said housing for engagement- With a striker; a detent pivotally mounted insaid housing and havinga portion normally engaging saidbolt to hold the bolt in latching position; means for moving said detent out of holdingengagement with the'bolt; a timer member pivotally mounted-in said-housing coaxially with said detent and having a portion so located that it engages said striker prior to engagement of the striker by the latching portion of the bolt as the door moves to closed position; means interconnecting said timer member-and detent whereby said'detent is swung by said timer member out of engagement with said bolt before the bolt engages the striker; and a single spring operative directly upon said-timer memberwto urge the timer member to striker engaging position, operative upon-the detent through the latched position, said detent having a cam surface engaging the bolt and urgingit toward latched position I when the detent is out of holding engagement with the bolt.

References Cited in the file. of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,246,782 Dall June 24, 1941- 2,301,557 Marple Nov. -10, 1942 2,329,232 Van-Voorhees Sept. l4,l943 7 2,649,321 Smith Aug. 18, 1953 

6. LATCH APPARATUS FOR A VEHICLE DOOR COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A HOUSING HAVING AN OPEN FACE, LATCHING MEANS MOUNTED IN SAID HOUSING FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN LATCHED AND UNLATCHED POSITIONS, DETENT MEANS MOUNTED IN SAID HOUSING FOR MOVEMENT BETWEEN LATCH HOLDING AND LATCH RELEASED POSITIONS, STUD MEANS MOUNTING SAID LATCHING MEANS AND SAID DETENT MEANS ON SAID HOUSING, A COVER FOR THE OPEN FACE OF SAID HOUSING, LATCH OPERATING MEANS MOVABLY MOUNTED ON SAID COVER, AND MEANS, INCLUDING SAID STUD MEANS, FOR ATTACHING SAID COVER AND 